A COMPREHENSIVE PRECIPITATION DATA SET FOR GLOBAL LAND AREAS
The data are
here.
This data base offers an expanded and updated compilation of
long-term station precipitation data, together with a new set of gridded
monthly mean fields for global land areas. This data set contains 5328
station records of monthly total precipitation, covering the period from
the mid-1800s to the late 1980s. The station data were individually
tested and visually inspected for the presence of spurious trends, jumps
and other measurement biases. The quality control procedure which was
used to check the station records for non-climatic discontinuities and
other biases are detailed in a technical report that accompanies this
data base.
The station data were interpolated onto a 4 degree latitude
by 5 degree longitude uniform grid. Comparisons of these data with
two other global-scale precipitation climatologies were done and are
discussed in the technical report that accompanies this data base.
SOURCE AND SCOPE OF THE DATA
An expanded and updated compilation of long-term station
precipitation data, together with a new set of gridded monthly mean
fields for global land areas are provided in this subdirectory. This
data set contains 5328 station records of monthly total precipitation,
covering the period from the mid 1800s to the late 1980s. The
station data were individually tested and visually inspected for
the presence of spurious trends, jumps and other measurement
biases. The quality control procedure which was used to check the
station records for nonclimatic discontinuities and other biases
is detailed in the report that accompanies these data files. Some
of the problems which typically contribute to potential inhomogeneities
in precipitation records are also described in the accompanying report.
The station data were interpolated onto a 4 degree latitude by
5 degree longitude uniform grid. Comparisons of these data with two
other global scale precipitation climatologies showed good agreement
among the three global scale climatologies over the common areas in
each set. Three different indices of long-term precipitation variations
over the global land areas all indicate a general increase of annual
precipitation since the 1940s, although a decline is evident over the
last decade. There is some indication that the last few decades of
the 19th century may have been as wet as the recent ones. An
interesting feature of this study is the presence of relatively large
differences in seasonal trends, with March-May and September-November
becoming wetter in the last few decades. The December-February and
June-August seasons exhibit smaller overall trends, although the
northern winter season does exhibit large decadal-scale fluctuations.
REFERENCES
Eischeid, J.K., H.F. Diaz, R.S, Bradley, and P.D. Jones. 1991. A comprehensive
precipitation data set for global land areas. DOE/ER-69017T-H1, TR051,
United States Department of Energy, Carbon Dioxide Research Program,
Washington, D.C.
Jon K. Eischeid and Henry F. Diaz
CIRES, University of Colorado
and Environmental Research Laboratories
NOAA
Boulder, Colorado
Raymond S. Bradley
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts
Philip D. Jones
Climatic Research Unit
University of East Anglia
Norwich, United Kingdom